Evolutions
by Aweshumnesh
Summary: In the region of Sylvania, chaos ensues. Only those with true hearts hold answers ! (Heavily OC dependent)
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hi there. For a long time I have intended to write a Pokemon fic and over the years a few ideas formed in my head. This is an attempt to give life to those ideas. Bear with me._

Chapter 1: Your Heaven

Massive explosions rang out across the valley. People hurried towards shelter, clutching their few valuable possessions with them. It was a full moon and the entire valley glittered like diamond. From the folds of the mountain, an army of Magneton moved forward, launching bolts of electricity into the distance.

A woman with flowing auburn hair dragged herself to her feet. She coughed blood as her battered and bruised body struggled to keep her standing. She locked eyes with the fat, imposing figure standing before her. The man grinned.

The screams of people and the cries of children echoed through the night.

From atop a hill, a young man with unkempt black hair with an Espeon on his shoulders looked on at the chaos ensuing in front of him. He gritted his teeth in anger.

Blood flooded the valley's muddy roads. A large windmill, till then an iconic monument of the Emerald Valley, came crashing down. People ran to avoid it. Some managed. Some didn't.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two : Humble Days

The crowd gathered at The Marshall City Central Stadium were esctatic. It wasn't just any concert. "True Velvet" were in town and getting tickets to catch Slyvania's hottest new band live was no mere feat. For the fortunate few, or fourty thousand, it should be said, it was going to be a night they would never forget. They had been waiting for quite a while and knew that the band would be on soon. Lights flared and the sound of a chugging guitar riff soon filled the stadium air.

Standing at the centre of the stage was a tall, lean young man with spiky blonde hair. He had ample amounts of hair gel applied and his flamboyant hair only seemed to be matched by his even more flamboyant guitar skills. He stood calmly in one spot as he played away. The riff he was playing was the intro to one of their most popular songs and he knew the crowd had already been won over. As the smoke machines constantly flooded the stage, a few more men followed, taking their respective positions.

_"So you say the sun's a liar?_

_That's an audacious claim for someone so young,_

_But you have that in your eyes_

_You are more than just a liar"_

As the first four lines of the song rang through the stadium, the crowd erputed into a defeaning crescendo. But the band was unfazed. They kept taking occasional glances at the stadium's open roof, catching the moon and stars as they played. The singer's voice was unique. It was powerful yet it always seemed lonely or disdainful, even. But confident at the same time.

_"What if I made the night sky dance?_

_And gave you one last chance,_

_Would you still refuse to cave in?_

_How did you get that spirit?_

_And how will I ever make it mine? "_

Many miles away in the quaint little town of Fender's Lake, a young girl, about fifteen years of age, kept her eyes locked to her television screen. Bands never toured small towns like her's and even if they did, she was sure her family wouldn't be able to afford the tickets. She kept singing out loud to the lyrics, lyrics that she knew inside out. She knew it was the closest she would ever get to "True Velvet", the closest she would get to Santiago, the singer or Hayden, the guitar player. As the band skillfully transitioned from one song to another, the young girl continued to sing along to every beat. Her body may have been in her bedroom but her soul was very much on stage along with the band.

She was in her pyjamas. They were worn down but she loved them, always telling her father how comfortable they were. Her long auburn her was left flowing and her blue eyes sparkled at the sight of the television screen. She was quite the beauty but her demeanor and tendency to come off as a tomboy didn't quite make her ladylike.

"Liz?", a male voice enquired.

But she paid no attention and continued to focus on the screen. The man walked over to the television and switched it off. Liz gave him a murderous glare.

"Hey, what was that for, dad?" , she asked angrily.

"For not answering me", he replied.

"But when did you call me?",

"Just a few moments ago".

"Really"

"Uh, never mind. Look, do you remember you have to go see Professor Leonard tomorrow morning ?".

"Yeah yeah, now turn the TV on!" she almost yelled at him. Her father sighed as he turned the TV back on and left the room.

"She'll never grow up", he said to himself.

-X-

The morning arrived as expected but Liz was nowhere to be seen. Her father grew impatient and at almost 10 o'clock, went to knock on her door. After knocking for nearly ten minutes, a very sleepy Liz opened the door. She yawned as she wished him a good morning. "Liz, don't you think you're running late?", her father asked in a commanding voice. "Late for what ?", she replied with a question. "For meeting Professor Leonard ?"

"Oh, crap".

A few minutes later, a panting Liz could be seen running towards the southern outskirts of the town, where Professor Leonard's laboratory was located. As she made her way there, she saw few young people, most that were around her age, standing with Pokémon. As she raced inside, she saw the old man she had been looking for.

"Ah, Elizabeth you're late as I expected", Professor Leonard said with a smile.

"Um, yeah", Liz replied looking at the ground.

"Oh well then, great concert last night, eh?"

"You saw the concert?" Liz asked wide eyed.

"Oh sure. I am a pretty big fan. I think Santiago has a great voice. And Hayden reminds me of Jimmy Page"

Liz didn't exactly know what to say. She wasn't used to seeing adults excited about True Velvet. Her own father only listened to country music.

"Well now for what I called you here for. Most people your age tend to leave on a journey. In fact, many of your contemporaries have already left".

"Um, yeah", Liz replied recalling how that arrogant brat, Mariah had left on her journey months ago.

"I was wondering if you'd be interested."

"Well I'm not sure"

"Well I'll let you think about it"

Just as they were talking, the sound of flapping wings surprised everyone in the lab. They quickly raced outside to see a majestic dragon like creature with a burning flame at the tip of its tail descending onto the lab grounds. Riding it was a young man with messy black hair, dressed in a blue jacket that covered a black shirt underneath and brown trousers. He seemed familiar to Liz and as he got off the Pokémon, almost everyone gathered there seemed to gasp.

"Good day, Professor", the young man said calmly.  
"Ah nice to see you again, Jay", the Professor said as he want forward to shake his hand.

"Everything going well, I hope?" Jay asked shaking the Professor's hand.

"Ah yes, just giving a few young trainers their first Pokémon. There are a few talented new kids"

"I see", Jay replied eyeing Liz in the distance.

Liz couldn't really understand the fuss about the guy. As he went inside, almost everyone present went over to him asking for the chance to take a photo with him. He complied although he didn't seem to be enjoying the publicity.

"Um, Mr. Perry? " Liz asked , Professor Leonard's aide.

"Yes?"

"Who is that guy?", Liz asked .

"You mean you really don't know?",

"Not a clue"

"Why that's Jay Maxwell, the defending champion of Sylvania"

-X-

Many of the citizens of Fender's Lake rushed to Professor Leonard's lab after learning of Jay's arrival, many of them requesting him to show them his Pokémon. Jay agreed but he didn't seem too pleased about it. It was around this time when the doorbell rang. Mr. Perry went over to answer it.

"Professor Leonard, look who's here!", said excitedly as he accompanied another young man inside. He had long curly black hair and tanned skin. A crooked nose was the most eye catching of all his features.

"Ah, Saul", Professor Leonard said, greeting the young man. "Good day, Professor. Just came to discuss a few things with you. Didn't expect to find Jay here", Saul said extending his hands towards Jay.

"Yeah, I was just, you know, in the area", Jay replied.

"It's a small world, after all", Saul said taking a seat in the sofa.

"How's the gym going ?", Professor Leonard asked Saul after the latter had settled down.

"Oh the usual, professor. You know with the ranking of Hudson City, not a whole lot of trainers come to challenge Sylvania's highest ranked gym. So it's quiet most of the time. Not much battling going on", Saul replied. "You must get bored", Jay interjected. "That I do. But I like the job, ya know. There's a ring to it. But hey Jay, since you're here, how about a little battle ?", the gym leader asked. "I suppose there's no harm in that", Jay replied calmly. Soon the whole assembled crowd once again burst into gasps and whispers, visibly excited about the battle that lay ahead of them.

-X-

Professor Leonard led the group to the open fields to the south of the lab grounds. The two trainers took positions and took the role of referee.

"This is an exhibition battle between Jay Maxwell, the Champion of Sylvania and Saul, gym leader of Hudson City. The battle will be a 1 on 1 with no substitutions allowed at any time"

"Espeon!", Jay said calmly as he threw his Pokeball forward. From it, emerged a pink Pokémon with long years and a strange tail. "Aggron!", Saul shouted as he threw his Pokeball forward. A giant steel type with silver and black scales all over its body emerged, growling loudly.

"Aggron, start off with Fire Blast", Saul said excitedly. Aggron shot a large cross shaped body of fire with all its might. The fire raced towards Espeon. From the crowd, Liz watched intently. For whatever reason, she was rooting for Espeon.

"Espeon, Psychic", Jay commanded his Pokémon. The pink Pokémon shot waves of psychic energy at the body of fire. The attacks collided in mid air before the psychic energy devoured the fire and crashed into Aggron. The giant steel type was knocked backwards and crashed into the ground. The crowd gasped in awe of Espeon's immense power and the huge gulf in class between the two Pokémon.

"Aggron, get up buddy!", Saul said encouraging his Pokémon. But it was too late and the steel type was out cold.

"Aggron is unable to battle! The victory goes to Espeon and Jay!", declared. The crowd broke into rapturous applause. "Still the prodigy you were", Saul said as he came forward to shake hands. "I think I just got lucky", Jay said calmly as he returned the handshake.

Out of the blue, Liz slowly walked up to Jay. "Um, ?", she said nervously. Jay had been patting Espeon's head. "Yes?", Jay asked her, not quite looking at her.

"That was amazing!", she said with utmost sincerity. "Thank you, miss. But it was all Espeon's credit, really", he said with what Liz saw for the first time that day, a smile. Not a big smile but it was still a lot for someone who seemed hell bent on not smiling very much.

Later that night, Professor Leonard threw a party at his laboratory in honour of Jay. Saul had already left for Hudson City although he had earlier said that he'd stay for a few days. The embarrassing defeat to Jay may have had something to do with his early departure. Liz had, unexpectedly, been invited. She thought it would just be a black tie affair for the elites of the town and she was by no means an elite. Her father was a mere florist and they just got by through a lot of compromises. She put on whatever dress she had as her "best" and made her way to the lab. For most part of the day, her mind was stuck on the battle she had seen earlier. It was more or less one of the few proper battles she had seen all her life and being over in just one turn, it wasn't much of a competition either. But Espeon's power had dazzled her and she couldn't get her mind off it.

The party was dull and most people just kept asking Jay about his travels, asking him about his strategies or how he trained his Pokemon. Liz listened carefully as he told his stories. He made it sound very easy. He talked about how he had gotten an Eevee as his starter Pokemon and trained diligently with it on his travels. For whatever reason, Liz knew the actual action would be much more difficult than what Jay was making it sound like. "And then one day, Eevee evolved into Espeon", Jay narrated as he went on on his tales.

Liz carefully studied Jay's behavior. He wasn't too fancy or anything but he had certain sophistication about him. And he seemed skilled at dealing with people. He talking in such a way that he came across as friendly but at the same time he did not let people get too up-close and personal. Those were certainly very impressive PR skills, Liz thought. As she continued observing him, she subconsciously compared herself to him. She did not have very good manners by any means. She preferred to keep to herself because she tended to get into fights with people almost everytime she spoke to someone for an extended period of time. Add to that, she wasn't the most confident person around. Her family's position and her general lack of any significant talent had always made her feel low. It was as if nobody had ever told this small town girl that with her beauty, she would be the talk of the town in any big city. All the small town boys, apparently, were too cowardly to ever come to a girl and just tell her how beautiful she was. But perhaps Liz's tendency to keep herself locked in a world of True Velvet and True Velvet alone had something to do with it.

As Jay kept talking, Liz didn't notice how a small furry body kept rubbing against her leg. After a while, the rubbing increased and she looked down and soon , shrieked. The whole crowd looked at her to find a startled girl and an Eevee at her feet.

"What happened, Liz ?", Professor Leonard asked.  
"I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't notice this Pokémon at first. It came out of nowhere and started rubbing against my leg. I was just taken aback", Liz responded, now visibly calmer than before. "I see this Eevee has taken a liking to you", Professor Leonard chuckled. "Really?" Liz asked. The professor nodded his head. Looking back at the Pokémon , Liz got down and slowly rubbed the top of its head. The Pokémon seemed to enjoy it. "Want to be friends?" Liz asked the Pokémon as she knelt down to get on an eye to eye level. The Pokémon cried happily as it nodded its head. "Well then, I'm Elizabeth or Liz for short. Nice to meet you, Eevee", Liz said extending her hand for a handshake. For a while she had forgotten Eevee was a Pokémon and probably wouldn't be familiar with handshakes. But then, to her surprise, the little brown Pokémon extended one of its paws and met her hands. "Wow, you're a smart one", Jay said walking up to the Pokémon. "I'm sure you two will be good friends"

Jay had decided to stay for a few days. He seemed to have taken a liking to the quite little town and took lodgings at Professor Leonard's guest room. Since it had already been a few days, the buzz surrounding Jay's arrival had died down a bit but it would still sometimes get noisy around the lab when school kids would come to check out Jay's Pokémon. It was then that under Professor Leonard's suggestion, Liz took Jay to one of the quietest places in the town, the peak of Free Hill, a small hill to the east of the town. Why it was named "Free Hill", nobody really knew but it was infested with wild Pokémon and that made people stay away. Of course, the wilderness was not an issue with Jay and with Espeon guarding the way, Liz showed Jay to the top of the hill.

"This is a beautiful place", Jay said as he positioned himself on the grass

"Yes indeed, I always used to come here with my mother"

"Used to?"

"Yeah my mother left us when I was seven"

"Oh I'm sorry"

"Oh no, don't be. I'm not really upset about it anymore. She must have been quite a selfish lady to just abandon her husband and daughter like that"

Although Liz insisted she wasn't upset, Jay was sure he could see her eyes begin to water. It was also the first time that Jay realized that Liz was quite a beautiful girl. The hill's peaks were quite windy and the wind played with her hair. Almost everything about her was perfect. But Jay didn't have much time to revel in those thoughts as he soon realized Liz was on the verge of crying.

"You know, I grew up in an orphanage", Jay said quite sternly, almost surprising Liz.

"Really?"

"Oh yes. My parents apparently dropped me off at the orphanage willingly. You know, it'd be one thing if my parents had died or something. But to know that you were abandoned, that was harsh"

"It must have been really hard"

"It was. But then I decided that I wanted to do something that would prove that I don't need them, that I am better off without them. And I think becoming champion of Sylvania has more or less done that"

"Well it certainly has. I wish I could make a statement like that"

The two took in the beautiful view. You could see the whole town from there and Liz realized just how small a town Fender's Lake really was. Jay seemed to be lost in thought and the silence was starting to get a bit awkward. It was then that Jay broke the silence.

"Tell me, Liz, your mother was a trainer, right?"

"How'd you know?"

"Well you said you used to come up here with your mother. And people apparently never come up here without trainers since there are so many wild Pokémon around. So i was just guessing she must have been a trainer"

"Yeah she was. My dad said she even competed in the Sylvanian League once"

"Hey Liz, do you want to compete in the league ?"

"Well yeah, sure. I mean, ever since I saw you battle, I've been wanting to raise Pokémon but I really don't think I am built for any of that"

"Nobody is built from the start. They build themselves up. Tell you what, I'll accompany you on the first few weeks or so and show you the basics. That'll make stuff easy. After that, though, you're on your own"

"You'd really do that?"

"Sure. I personally don't know what to do with my life at the moment. Winning the Sylvanian League was my dream for so long. Now that it's done, I really don't know what to do or where to go. So I'll tag along for now"

"I guess I should thank you but I'm really not good with that stuff"

"You don't have to thank me. Now wipe those tears off. It's strange to see such a pretty face filled with tears"

If Liz didn't know better, it was the first time in her life a boy had called her "pretty". With all her might, she tried to control herself but she couldn't control the blush that had already formed on her face.

"Hey is that a True Velvet t-shirt you're wearing ?"

"Yeah! Do you like them too ?"

"nah, I think they're kind of overrated"

The blush quickly faded.

The morning after saw Liz slowly walking up to the edge of the town accompanied by her father and Professor Leonard. "Are you sure you want to leave on a journey , Liz ?" her father asked. It had been the fifth time he had done that since the previous night , when Liz had announced at Professor Leonard's lab that she intended to leave Fender's Lake and travel across Sylvania with her new Pokémon, Eevee. "Yes, dad. Yes", Liz replied trying hard to not lose her patience. "Well I've packed everything and make sure you call every time you reach a new city", he reminded her. "I'll try, dad".

As she took her first steps out of her hometown, he father looked on with a mix of caution and pride. His girl had changed drastically within a couple of days. "She'll be okay", he told himself. "She'll be okay". As Liz walked down the road leading to Atkins Town, she kept humming a True Velvet song to herself.

"_Now you've gone and claimed your bargain,_

_Keep your mind in check; your spirit sure is fiery,_

_Wonderland you've done it again,_

_It's only the first page of your little diary"_

To her left, walked Jay, the champion of Sylvania. There was surely a lot ahead but neither Liz nor Jay worried about any of that. There was a certain sense of optimism in the air.


End file.
